Market Summary Week Ending 05/11/2023

The main focus of equity markets this week were the decisions made by the Federal Reserve and Bank of England at their most recent committee meetings for November.

Investor sentiment had been subdued over the previous month, through the continued limbo of the state of the global economy. It’s unknown what effect heightened interest rates will have on a potential recession, in a bid to ensure that inflation remains under control over the longer term.

However, this sentiment was lifted this week, as both the Federal Reserve and Bank of England took the decision to hold interest rate at their current rates, at 5.50% and 5.25% respectively. This was a move that signaled to investors the hiking session seen by the central banks over the past 18 months may have come to an end.

This was bolstered by the release of the jobs report in the US, showing that the number of jobs created was less than analysts’ expectations with 150,000 roles created, rather than the 170,000 expected. This is a major boost to the continued fight against inflation and what would have been a major influence in the decision of the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates.

The Dow Jones was up by 5.07% – its best week since October 2022. The S&P 500 was higher by 5.85% and the Nasdaq gained 6.61%. It was the best week for both indexes since November 2022.

The UK’s major indices followed suit, with both the FTSE 100 & 250 reporting strong weekly gains of 1.24% and 5.74% respectively.

Please note for this weekly summary, we focus on the major indices within the financial markets such as the FTSE 100 (UK) and the Dow Jones and NASDAQ (US) to provide a factual account of what has happened within a certain index. Performance figures quoted are factual from the previous week’s trading and this summary is for commentary purposes only.

The performance of these indices is not a representation of an individual fund or portfolio. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. The value of your investment can go down as well as up. You could get back less than you originally invested.